


The thunder that followed the wind

by Irondragon4



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Cats, F/M, Forbidden Romance, Romance, ThunderClan, WindClan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:55:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29020059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irondragon4/pseuds/Irondragon4
Summary: Being a part of a great prophecy can be tough, especially for such a young cat. But when there's another cat from Windclan who has their own mysterious gift, do they fit in with the prophecy to or is there a different reason for their powers?(A rewrite of a book on wattpad. Rewrite is also on wattpad)
Relationships: Harespring & original character, Jayfeather/OC, Jayfeather/original character
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

The rain poured down heavily on the Windclan patrol, the 3 cats trekking through the rain which caused their fur to cling to their pelts.   
"Why did it have to start raining now of all times" the cat that brought up the rear grumbled, ears pointed down and shoulders hunched. The she-cat in the lead flicked her tail as her only response. She suddenly came to a halt, ears pricked as she listened.  
"Is it a rabbit?"  
"What rabbit would be foolish enough to come out in this weather" a black tom grumbled, flicking his tail in annoyance.  
"Be quiet, I can hear something" she objected, turning to look across the moor. Both toms pricked their ears to listen.  
"Is that a kit?" the she-cat broke out into a run, following the faint mewling until she reached an old fox den. The scent had completely faded, instead being replaced by a faint cat smell. Inside the den was a light brown and white she-cat.   
"Ashfoot. What did you find?" one of the toms called, both skidding to a halt next to her. Ashfoot approached the she-cat, sniffing the air. Her scent was slowly fading and her eyes were staring blankly at the wall.  
"She's dead" Ashfoot reported, turning to the two toms who entered the den. The mewling was still continuing, drawing the three cats attention to movement in the nest. A small kit was nuzzling into the she-cat's belly. Ashfoot crouched down, looking at the small cat. Laying near the kit were two other kits, both still and scent fading.  
"We should bring this one back to camp" Ashfoot states, pulling the kit close and licking the fur to warm it up.  
"Bring it back? That's the kit of a rogue and you want to bring it back?"  
"She'll die if we leave her here. She's hungry and cold and no doubt a fox or another animal will come to eat her if those don't kill her" Ashfoot objects.  
"The warrior code does say to help a kit that is in need. That includes rogues" the black tom sighs. Ashfoot gently picks up the kit by the scruff and carries her out of the den. The moment the rain began hitting the kit, she protested, letting out loud mewls as her tail wrapped closely to her body.  
"She's mewling so loud, she'll scare all the prey off our territory" the other tom grumbled, flicking his tail. The small patrol reached their camp. Ashfoot approached Onestar's den although he poked his head out when he heard the sound the sound the kit was making. He looked down, examining the newborn.  
"What's this?" he demanded, looking at his deputy.  
"I brought her back. We found her in a makeshift den. Her mother and siblings are dead" Ashfoot explains, putting the small kit down between her paws. Onestar looks down at the kit and then back up at Ashfoot.   
"Fine. She can stay. Give her to one of the Queens and have Barkface check her over" he orders. Ashfoot nods, picking up the kit and carrying her to the nursery.   
"Nightcloud?" she asks the dark coloured she-cat. She turns to Ashfoot.  
"Could you take this little one? She's lost her mother and siblings and will need somecat to care for her" Ashfoot asks, nudging the small kit closer.  
"Fine" Nightcloud grumbles, pulling the kit next to her own. The small kit nuzzled into her belly, quickly drinking milk that she was desperately in need of.  
"I'll go get Barkface to come check on her and make sure she's healthy" she adds, exiting the nursery and leaving the kit with the other kits and queens.

________________________________

???'s pov

I sat outside the nursery, watching the other kits as they played mossball. I stumbled forward, bumping into Breezekit. He turned to me, lashing his tail.  
"Sorry Breezekit. I just wanted to know if I could play with all of you" I ask, looking at the other kits.  
"No way. Go away Spottedkit" Breezekit hisses, pushing me away.  
"Oh. Alright" I mumble, walking away and laying back at the entrance of the nursery. I saw Nightcloud and looked at her. She was watching Breezekit, maybe she'd tell him to let me play. She didn't do anything, instead going back to talking with another cat. I lowered my ears, placing my head on my paws. I felt a paw shaking my shoulder and lifted my head to look.  
"I'll play with you if you wanna play" Harekit offers, sitting back and looking at me.  
"You will?" I ask, jumping to my paws. He nods, looking around before running off into the nursery again. I tilted my head, sitting back down again. He came back out with a mossball in his mouth, dropping it in front of me.  
"We can play with this one" he purrs, batting at the mossball and sending it rolling across the ground. I jumped forward, catching the mossball between my paws and batting it back over to Harekit who chased after it till he caught it. I ran forward, tackling him to the ground. He scrambled out from under my paws.  
"No fair Spottedkit. You caught me off guard" he mewed at me, shaking out his fur. I purr.   
"You think I'll be a good warrior?" I ask.  
"Yeah. Let's get our warrior names together. We can be the best warriors together. I'll even make you my deputy when I'm leader" he purrs.  
"Who says I won't be leader before you" I challenge, raising my hind quarters in the air.  
"Well if that happens then I'll be your deputy" he offers. I purr in response.  
"Sounds fun" I bat his nose. He looks at my paw for a second before swiping at my ear. I squeal and pounce at him, swishing my tail as he uses his forepaws to tug at my neck. 

_**______________________________** _

One of the warriors limped into camp, wincing when he put his foot down on the ground. I felt a strong itch in my paw. I lifted it up and nibbled at my pad. Harekit looked at me from the rabbit, twitching his ears.  
"Are your eyes ok? The food is here, not in your paw" he teases.  
"My paw is just itchy" I reply, trying to scratch the itch that wasn't going away. It started to fade until the itching finally stopped. I put my paw down and began to chew at the prey instead. The itch came back again after somecat passed the two of us and I began nibbling my paw again. Was it some kind of sickness that I had unknowingly acquired.  
"I'm going to talk to Barkface. Maybe he can help with the itching" I say, getting up and padding over to the medicine cat den. I enter the den and look around for Barkface. I spot him.  
"Barkface?" I ask, tilting my head to the side. He lifts his head up from some herbs and looks at me.  
"Spottedkit? Can I help you?"he asks, walking towards me.  
"My paw keeps getting itchy and then going away" I explain, looking at the paw that was irritating me not to long ago.  
"Let me have a look. Just encase you've got an infection" he explains, nudging me over to sit. I sit down and lift my paw so he can check it. He sniffs it and touches it with his nose.   
"There doesn't appear to be any infection. Does it hurt when I touch it?" he asks. I shake my head.   
"You were just getting worried. It was just an itch. Nothing serious" he assures me. I nod, getting to my feet and walking out. I bent my ears down guiltily. Harekit noticed when I settled back down next to him.  
"What's wrong?" he asks, tilting his head.  
"I wasted his time over nothing. I feel really bad about it" I mumbled, curling my tail close.   
"Its not like there were other cats lining up to see him. I doubt he believes that" Harekit objects, placing a paw on my head. I looked at him.  
"I guess" I mumble, flicking an ear.  
"Come on, let's finish this rabbit so we can play more" he purrs. I nod in agreement, taking another bite.


	2. Chapter 1

Jaypaw's pov

I batted the two cats away from me, twitching my tail in irritation. They might have saved my lfie but they didn't need to treat me like a mousebrained kit. I blinked the water from my eyes and everything began to change from nothing to blurred colours. I looked around. Was I actually dead? Was I in Starclan. The blurred shapes slowly became more clear until I could see the patrol consisting of 4 cats. Two warriors and two apprentices. One of the apprentices caught my attention. She was rubbing her paw over her eyes.   
"Spottedpaw, stop that. You'll claw your eyes out" the black tom hissed.  
"Its just really itchy all of a sudden" she replies. The other apprentice kicks dirt.  
"Just because Ashfoot said you could join the patrol does not mean you can do what you want" he snapped at her.  
"Now come on. We'll take this apprentice back to Thunderclan. That way he won't wander off and fall into the lake again" he grumbles.  
"I can get home myself" I snap, twitching my tail. He ignores me and takes the lead with the other warrior. I trail at the back and soon I catch the scent of another cat next to me and turn to look. Her name was Spottedpaw right? It fit well, she did have patches of spots across her pelt. She reached up a paw and rubbed at her eyes again. She then turned to me.  
"Hey. I didn't catch your name" she whispers, meeting me. I pick out two spots in particular. One on her muzzle above her nose and the other on her nose. Both were surrounded by smaller dots that I nearly missed.   
"Jaypaw" I grumble in reply.  
"Jaypaw...... That's fitting. You kinda look like a Jay" she states.  
"Or at least what I've been told a Jay looks like. I've never seen one myself" she adds, reaching up and rubbing a paw over her eyes again. Why does she keep doing that? I twitch my ears. Is it related to why I can see now? I catch the scent of Thunderclan. We were approaching the border and I could smell a patrol approaching. I see three cats and recognize my mother's scent. I lash my tail in annoyance. She runs towards me and buries her muzzle into my fur. I lean away from it, pinning my ears down.   
"Whitetail, finish the patrol with Breezepaw and Spottedpaw and tell Onestar what happened" the other cats are told.  
"Can't I come? I just wanna see Jaypaw to his camp" Spottedpaw objects, looking at the tom.  
"No. Go back to camp" he snaps, looking at her. She lowers her ears and turns away, following Whitetail. I notice Breezepaw saying something to her. I prick my ears and catch it.  
"Stop acting like your better than us" he hissed. As the other three cats grew distant, my vision faded out until nothing was there anymore. I lowered my head, trailing behind the patrol. I still had so many questions. How was I able to see all of a sudden? And why did it fade away? Was it Spottedpaw. She had been fidgeting with her eyes the entire time. Then again that could just be something she always does. I wouldn't know. I've never met her before. When I get back to camp, I'm sent to the Medicine den. I reluctantly go with another lash of my tail. Crowfeather follows me for some reason and I can't figure out what he's feeling. I twitch my ear in annoyance. The two talk for a minute before Leafpool gives me some Thyme. Hollypaw lays next to me. I gulp down the thyme and close my eyes. Some rest would probably help.


	3. Chapter 2

Spottedpaw's pov

I happily walked alongside Harepaw towards the gathering.   
"This is so exciting. I really hope I get to meet new cats" I purr, puffing out my chest. I hadn't been allowed to go to the last gathering. Onestar didn't say why, he just wouldn't let me go. Breezepaw swipes at my ear.  
"Of course you'd want to make friends with other clans" he hisses, twitching his tail.   
"I think making friends with other clans is a good idea" Harepaw objects, padding slightly ahead of me so he could look at Breezepaw.  
"Don't you always agree with her? You might as well be mates running off to Starclan knows where like that" he snorts, walking forward with a flick of his tail. Harepaw snorts and sticks his tongue out.  
"Why does he always insist on that" he grumbles, looking to the side. I lower my head, keeping quiet for the rest of the journey. Why did everyone seem to think I was going to be disloyal to my clan? They raised me so why wouldn't I fight for them. We reached the tree that I'd heard had crushed a Windclan cat that had gone rogue when Onestar became leader. I looked up at the full moon. I gulped but leapt up onto the log, digging my claws into the bark as to keep my balance. Harepaw had gone ahead, easily getting across with his clanmates while I lagged behind. I eventually leapt off the tree and looked around. Thunderclan had arrived. I picked out a familiar silver pelt and slowly approached, unsure if I had picked out the correct cat or one that looked similar. My eyes began itching as I got closer and I was hit with the same scent as that same day a moon ago, only there was a faint trace of herbs on it now. I got close and tapped his shoulder. He turned to look at me, fur bristling. I backed off slightly.  
"Sorry. I just thought it would be nice to see a cat I at least slightly recognize at my first gathering" I apologize. Jaypaw's fur flattens.  
"First gathering. Wouldn't you have been to the gathering last moon?" he asks.  
"No. Onestar wouldn't let me go. I think Crowfeather told him I did something wrong on that patrol so he decided I had to stay in camp" I mumbled, looking over to where Onestar was waiting in the tree. Jaypaw gets to his feet and walks away. I lower my ears. I guess not even Thunderclan cats want to talk to me.  
"Aren't you coming?" he grumbles quietly, looking over his shoulder with one paw up. I prick my ears but follow him. He crouches down and crawls through the bushes that surround the clearing. I look back at the other cats. No one sees us. I duck down and crawl through the bushes as well, coming out near the sandy beach of the island. Jaypaw walks down and sits on the sand near the water. I sit down with him, looking up at the moon.  
"Is this alright for us to do?" I ask, looking towards the middle of the island.  
"Lionpaw and Hollypaw told me that they only really talk about prey so its not like we're missing much" he responds. I reach up a paw and rub at my eyes.  
"What are you doing?"  
"My eyes are itchy again. They've been fine for a moon and Barkface said there was nothing wrong but I don't know. He says that about a lot of my random itches" I sigh, shaking my head.  
"I'm kind of getting used to them by now. I can last longer without wanting to scratch" I add on, looking at him. He looks me over.  
"Is Crowfeather your dad or something?" he asks.  
"What no. He's not my dad. I'm......... I'm not clan born" I respond. He pricks his ears.  
"I was found as a kit. Ashfoot found me. She's my mentor. She told me that my mother had likely died when I was born. I was the only survivor of a litter of three so I don't know anything about where I came from" I sigh, looking out towards the moor.  
"I don't see why that's a bad thing. Thunderclan takes in cats from outside all the time" he states, twitching his tail.  
"My clan don't really see me as an asset. I'm not a good runner. And my pelt stands out a lot against the moor" I mumble, looking towards the water which rippled when the wind blew against it. I curled my tail close.  
"Does everycat in Windclan think like that?"  
"Well, not everycat. Ashfoot has always been kind to me and Harepaw is my best friend. We've known each other since we were kits. I was apprenticed alongside him" I explain. I turn to Jaypaw, meeting his gaze. The blue of his eyes was very soothing. He looks at me, lowering one ear.  
"Why are you staring at me?" he asks. I cover my eyes with my paw and turn away.  
"Sorry. I was just thinking that your eyes are really pretty" I explain. I move my paw slightly and see him turn his head to the side, ears lowering down. I twitch my ears.  
"Hey. What if we met up again" I offer.  
"At the next gathering?"  
"No. I mean like tomorrow night or the next. We could meet above clan territory" I offer, looking at him hopefully. He turns to the side, twitching his ears. He was hesitating.  
"Please. We could hunt or practice battle moves or we could just talk" I beg, lowering my ears. He was going to say no wasn't he. He opened his mouth and I lowered my head, looking at the ground.  
"I guess it couldn't hurt" he sighs. I lift my head and bounce to my feet.   
"Oh my starclan. Really? You'll come" He nods. "Great. Meet me at the stream tomorrow when you can slip out of camp" I purr. I hear Onestar calling the clan together.   
"I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow" I add on before running back towards my clan. I come up beside Ashfoot who looks at me.  
"Where were you?" she asks, tilting her head.  
"Just making a new friend" I purr, puffing up my chest. She purrs.  
"That's great. Its nice to see you so happy" she places a paw on my head. I purr happily. I don't care if my eyes get itchy around Jaypaw. It'll be so fun to have another cat to hang around with.


	4. Chapter 3

Jaypaw's pov

I pricked my ears, listening to Leafpool's breathing. Once she was asleep I could sneak out. I picked up on the change in her breathing and slowly crawled out of my nest, sniffing the air when I exited the medicine den. Cloudtail was sat at the entrance on guard and every other cat was asleep in their nests. I sneak over to the dirtplace and climb through the branches that surrounded it. I shake out my fur before following the scents towards the Windclan border. I pricked my ears at the sound of an owl overhead. I ignored it. If an owl tried to swoop me up then I'd claw its eyes out. I reached the stream that marked the Windclan border and sniffed again. The freshest scent was from the border patrol. She wasn't here. I twitch my tail. I just wanted to know why I could see around her. I hear pawsteps approaching as my colours begin filling my gaze. It gets stronger until I'm splashed with water. I shake my head, water dripping from my fur. I look down. Spottedpaw was in the stream, splashing about until she got her footing. She looked at me.  
"I'm sorry. I wasn't able to stop running in time. I guess I'm covered in water now" she sighs, climbing out of the water and shaking out her fur, letting it fluff out. She looks at me.  
"I honestly thought you weren't going to show up. But I'm glad you did. Come on. This way" she explains, pointing forward with her muzzle. She begins running through the trees, sticking to her side of the border. I run to catch up and keep pace with her. The stream curves away and I jump over it. We were leaving clan territory and I wasn't sure how this would go. Spottedpaw stopped running at a ridge, a few small pebbles tumbling down into the grass below.  
"What is this place?" I ask, looking around. She jumps down onto a small worn down path along the ridge and looks up.  
"Come on. I want to show you something" she purrs. I step forward, slipping off the ridge and landing on the rocks. I lift my head, expecting Spottedpaw to say something but she didn't. I get to my paws and look. She was waiting for me. When she noticed I was on my paws, she turned around and started running down the small path, making a turn and running through the grass. I quickly followed, trying my best to catch up with her even if she could cover more distance than me. We reached a dip in the ground, a large rock sitting at the lip. She jumped onto the rock and sat down, turning to me. She tipped her head, encouraging me to join. I leapt up onto the rock and sat down next to her, looking straight ahead. The grass stretched for mouse lengths, I couldn't even see where it ended. There were different plants scattered across the ground and prey that bounded and scuttled through the grass.  
"Beautiful isn't it. I found it by accident when I went a bit far from the Windclan border once" she explains, momentarily rubbing a paw over her eyes.  
"You seem to do that a lot" I point out.  
"Yeah. My eyes always itch around you for some reason. But I don't care. I still want to be your friend" she states with confidence, turning to me and smiling. I twitch one ear but don't answer. She falters.  
"Y-you know. If you want to be friends" she mumbles, running her paw across the rock. I could feel a strong feeling coming from her. Sadness. Maybe guilt? I pricked my ears. Why did she feel like that. I closed my eyes momentarily. They snapped open again when I heard her thoughts. She thought she was wasting my time. I looked back out at the landscape.  
"Why would you think I wouldn't want to be friends" I snap. She lifts her head, disbelief on her face.  
"Well...... I just thought you felt obliged to come here. I guess I'm just used to most cats seeing me as a pest" she whispers, looking at her paws.  
"Well...... you aren't" I grumble, looking away and flicking my tail. I'm suddenly tackled and both of us fall off the rocks and into the grass. Small stars rise from the ground when we do, fluttering around in the air. She looks into my eyes.  
"How about we meet up every 3rd moonrise? We can come here" she offers. I consider the offer, flicking an ear.  
"Alright" I agree. She purrs before flopping herself down on top of me, knocking the wind out of me. I can feel her purr against my chest, her own rumbling as she did. I could get used to something like this.


	5. Chapter 4

Spottedpaw's pov

I shook out my fur before taking a lick at the bite mark on my shoulder. That stupid dog bit me and now my shoulder and leg stung like crazy. On top of that, almost every inch of my body was itchy. I reached my hind paw to my neck and scratched, trying to get rid of the itching. I spotted Breezepaw who was sat quite close.  
"Hey Breezepaw, you were really great out there" I complemented.  
"Shut it Rogue" he hissed in return, the fur around his neck bristling. I hunched my shoulders and lowered my ears.  
"Fine, I was just trying to be nice but if you're going to be like that then I won't bother" I snapped, getting to my paws and limping away. I decided to go over to a cooler corner of camp, the itching seemed to calm down over there and I was away from the judging eyes of my clanmates. I thumped down onto my side, gently running my tongue over my leg, wincing with each leg. Either way, I could wait. Barkface had his paws full with Kestralpaw being confined to the medicine den with whitecough. I curled up, gently placing my tail over my leg and ignoring the slight sting I received.   
"Spottedpaw?" Harepaw was looking for me.  
"Over here" I respond, lifting my head. He spotted me and ran over.  
"That was quite a battle. I've never fought a dog before. They're such mangy creatures" he stated, shaking out his fur. I picked out the cobwebs that were wrapped around his side.  
"What happened?" I asked, pointing to his side with my muzzle.  
"Oh, I got scratched by a dog. Those things have nasty scratches. Hurts so bad" he explains.   
"I'd say we were lucky. We didn't get many bad injuries although this might deplete Barkface's herb store" he adds, twitching his tail. He turns to me.  
"Have you been treated yet?" he asks, tilting his head.  
"Y-yeah. I just got a few aches and pains is all. Nothing to serious" I lie. I could deal with a bite.  
"Great. Let's go to our nests, I'm feeling really drowsy from those poppy seeds" he mumbles through a yawn.  
"Yeah. Sounds like a good idea" I agree. I wait until Harepaw turns around before standing up. I keep my tail in front of my leg, hiding the wound as I limp back to my nest. Harepaw was already curling up in his when I got there. I settle down, trying to find a comfortable position to lie in but its hard with the pain that radiates from my paw. I lower my head and close my eyes, willing the pain to go away and for the itching to calm down. I'm sure it would all go away by tomorrow.

The pain did not go away come sunrise. In fact, if anything, my leg hurt even more. I groan but just curl up more. I felt sick and definitely not up for any training. I feel somecat prodding me and I lift my head, blinking drowsily.   
"Come on Spottedpaw. We have training to do"Harepaw insists. I groan and lower my head again.  
"I don't feel like training today" I reply, placing one paw over my muzzle.  
"You should just let her be useless. Its all she's good for" Breezepaw snaps, walking past my nest. I flick my ear but don't respond. I don't have the energy. Harepaw hesitates before he leaves the den himself. I'm alone with no itching and peace to go back to sleep. Until another cat is looking into the den.   
"Spottedpaw, are you alright" Its Ashfoot. I flick my ear again. I look up at her but don't lift my head. She was sniffing the air. She turns back to me.  
"Spottedpaw, move your tail" she commands. I groan. I don't want to.  
"Spottedpaw" she demands. I hesitate before moving my tail away, showing the large bite mark on my shoulder and leg.  
"Oh my Starclan. Why didn't you get that treated yesterday" she asks, looking at me.  
"Its not that bad. Just a little sore. It'll go away" I respond, laying on my side.  
"You are going to the medicine den right now" she commands. I stay put. She moves around and pushes me onto my feet. I stumble towards the entrance, standing in place.  
"Medicine den. Now" she insists. I sigh but limp over anyway, Ashfoot on my heels. Barkface looks up when we enter.  
"What's wrong?" he asks.  
"Spottedpaw has a bite mark that hasn't been treated" she explains, nudging me forward. Barkface approaches me, sniffing my wound.  
"Its becoming infected. I'll get that dressed and I'll have you stay here for a few days to keep an eye on your wound" he states, going over to his supplies. I sigh.  
"I'll come by to check on you later" Ashfoot explains, running her tongue over my head before leaving the den, most likely to preform her deputy duties. I hiss when Barkface applies something to my shoulder, fur spiking.  
"Now rest. But try to keep away from Kestralpaw. I don't need two cats with whitecough" he explains. I limp over to the nest he'd pointed to and settled down.   
"And Spottedpaw?" he asks. I lift my head to look at him.  
"Anymore of those strange itches you complain about?" he asks.  
"N-no" I lie, shaking my head. I could deal with that alone. Barkface had enough to deal with as it is. And I've already made his day horrible, I'd rather not make it worse.


	6. Chapter 5

Jaypaw's pov

I was glad to finally have the greencough mostly out of the clan. Those who had greencough were recovering strongly. I hadn't even had the chance to meet up with Spottedpaw for at least a quarter moon. I sat outside the den, looking up at the moon. Maybe I could go see if she'd be there. I waited for most cats to go to sleep before sneaking out of camp and heading back to that valley we were at last time. When I reached it, her scent wasn't fresh. It was completely faded. She hadn't been since we met up. I heard movement and turned, blurry shapes entering my vision. I sat down on the grass and waited, finally letting sight enter my vision.  
"I didn't know if you'd be here tonight" she rasped. I flicked my tail.  
"You don't sound well, should you really be out of camp?" I ask.  
"I'll be fine. I caught whitecough but it wasn't too bad. I got over it. My throat just hurts is all" she objects. I notice cobwebs wrapped around her shoulder and leg.  
"What happened?"  
"Oh. I got bit by one of those dogs that attacked. I kind of let it get a little infected" she mumbled, looking down at the ground. My fur bristled.  
"You did what?" I hiss, tail bushing out.  
"I just didn't want Barkface to use up all of his herbs. I thought that it wouldn't be very warrior like of me"  
"You were injured. You are injured. You should prioritize your injury over anything else. You could have died if no cat noticed" I snapped, lashing my tail. I'd heard stories of cats dying because the infection got too bad and Spottedpaw was just acting like getting an infection wasn't a big deal. She bent her ears down and turned away.  
"I....... Its just so hard" she whispered, lowering her head and hunching her shoulders. I twitch my ears.  
"What is?"  
"Being the kit of a rogue. Most of my clan just sees me as a rogue. I'm not a true Windclan cat. Not even Onestar seems to like me. I just want to fit in with everycat but I don't" she whimpered, laying down on the ground. I lashed my tail. I could feel the sadness coming from her in waves. I twitched my ears before laying down next to her, placing my tail over her back. She pricked her ears and looked at me. I didn't say anything, only looked ahead. Spottedpaw didn't say anything either, it was just silent. The moon was getting close to the horizon.   
"We should head back. Our clans will be waking up soon" she mumbles. I get to my paws.   
"I'll maybe see you in three moonrise's" she adds, looking at me hopefully.  
"Yeah, I'll see you then" I agree, heading back to Thunderclan territory. Both of us went our separate ways, walking back towards our territories. I slipped back into camp and crept back to my nest, curling up with my tail over my nose. I could hear Leafpool sleeping in her nest. I slowly let myself slip into sleep, allowing myself some sleep before my duties began.


	7. Chapter 6

Spottedpaw's pov

I ran alongside Ashfoot, Breezepaw and Heatherpaw tailing. We ran into camp and I caught the scent of Thunderclan coming from camp. We reached the camp, Ashfoot announcing to Onestar that we had seen Riverclan cross the border. I looked around camp and noticed Jaypaw standing near another Thunderclan cat. I approached him. I was going to ask him why he was here when I saw Harepaw next to us. He turned to me and pricked his ears.  
"Spottedpaw. Have you seen Gorsetail's kits? They went missing" he explained to me.  
"Gorsetail's kits are missing?" I ask, turning to Harepaw. He nodded, getting onto his paws. I turned to ask Jaypaw again but the other Thunderclan cat was leading him out of the camp. Onestar was preparing cats to attack Riverclan. I look around but I can't see Breezepaw or Heatherpaw anywhere. Harepaw is listening to Onestar but I grab his ear and lead him out of camp.  
"Spottedpaw. That hurts" he objects, pulling his head back as I let go of his ear.  
"Come on. I think Breezepaw and Heatherpaw have ran off somewhere. Let's follow their scent" I explain to him. His ears flick.  
"Oh. Great idea. Maybe we'll find the kits while we're at it" he agrees. I sniff the air, twitching one ear.   
"They went this way" I point out, following the scent trail.  
"I wonder why they ran off like that?" Harepaw wonders.  
"Probably thinking they can get in Onestar's favour" I grumble, taking the lead. The scent trail leads down into some tunnels. I look at the tunnels nervously.   
"Should we go down there?" Harepaw asks, looking at the looming hole. I fluff up my fur.  
"Yeah. Breezepaw and Heatherpaw went in and we're older than them. If they can go in then so can we" I encourage, taking one step into the tunnels. Water dripped onto my head and I shook it. I walked down the tunnel, Harepaw on my tail. I eventually hear voices deeper in the tunnels.  
"Do you hear that Harepaw?" I ask, turning back to look at him but its so dark that I can barely see him.  
"Yeah. Sounds like Breezepaw and Heatherpaw are up ahead" he agrees. I start to run forward until finally I reach an open cave where I'm flooded with Thunderclan scent.   
"Breezepaw. Heatherpaw. What are you doing down here?" Harepaw asks, shaking out his fur when some rain hits his fur from the opening above us.  
"Oh great. You're here too" Breezepaw grumbles, lashing his tail.  
"Why are there Thunderclan cats here?" I ask, tilting my head sideways.  
"We're looking for the missing kits" the golden tom objected, coming up to me and leaning into my face. I step back and swish my tail. I look over at Jaypaw who seems occupied with something else.   
"I've caught their scent" he states. My ears prick up.  
"Really. That's amazing Jaypaw" I purr. Jaypaw takes the lead further into the tunnels. Harepaw walks up near me.  
"What was that about?" he whispers.  
"I don't know what you are talking about" I object.  
"You act like you know that medicine cat" he replies. My fur prickles.  
"What if I do" I object.  
"No, like really know him. Don't think I missed the way you were trying to speak to him back in camp"  
"Alright fine. He's a friend. But don't tell anycat. Its a secret" I hiss at him playfully. His whiskers twitch.  
"No problem. I can keep a secret" he purrs. I roll my eyes before stepping ahead of him as the tunnel begins to narrow. After a while, I bump into the cat ahead of me, rubbing my nose.  
"We got them. We need to go back now" Jaypaw calls. I pick up on the sound of kit mews. I turned around, stepping on Harepaw's paws as he tried to move out of the way. We were able to move back to the tunnel but now we were stepping in water past my paws and getting higher.   
"What are we going to do. We'll never get out in time" Heatherpaw mews, stumbling about in the water, one of the kits in her mouth  
"We need to jump into the river" Jaypaw calls out, running through the water to the bank of the flooded stream.  
"What? We aren't Riverclan cats. We'll drown" Harepaw objects.  
"We don't have any other option" the black she-cat objects.   
"We'll all jump in together then. We can help anycat that needs it" I agree. All of us prepare to jump and we do, splashing into the water. The current pulls all of us down the tunnel. I splash my paws, trying to keep my muzzle above the water as we're swept out into the lake. I hear a yelp from Harepaw as he slips under the surface of the water. I dive down under the water, grabbing his scruff and trying to pull us back to the surface of the water. The water pulls at my pelt and with the added weight of Harepaw, I struggle to get to the surface. Teeth sink into my scruff and something pushes below my belly. We break the surface and I quickly pull Harepaw's head up so that he broke the surface to. He coughed up water while gasping in air. I look to see Jaypaw let go of my scruff and the golden tom swim up to the surface. We reach the shore where I let go of Harepaw who collapses to the ground with relief. I sit down on the stones heavily, water dripping from my fur and flattening it against my flank.  
"Come on. We need to stop the fighting before somecat gets hurt" the black furred she-cat objects. We grab the kits and race towards the Riverclan border. When the kits were shown to be safe, Onestar backed down from the fighting. I noticed Heatherpaw talking to the golden tom like they were friends. The way they were acting and talking almost sounded like they were saying goodbye. Something washed over me and I turned to Jaypaw. He pricked his ears, looking at me.  
"Are we going to stop seeing each other now?" I ask, looking right at him. His pelt bristled.  
"No. There's nothing wrong with it so why should we stop" he objects. I purr slightly.  
"I thought you'd say yes honestly" I admit. He looks around me.   
"That tom's listening in" he states. I turn around as Harepaw's fur bristled slightly and he looked slightly guilty."  
"I didn't mean to listen in. I promise" he explains, digging at the stones.  
"Its alright. He's my friend" I assure Jaypaw. He flicks his ear but doesn't say anything about.  
"I have to go. I'll see you around" he whispers, getting to his paws. I nod in agreement.   
"Yeah. See you around Jaypaw" I agree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am aware that I basically skipped over everything in Dark River except the end but my reason is, if you've read Dark River. You already know what happened. I'll only be including things that have been changed. Also I know Harepaw didn't go into the tunnels but I chose for him to go since he's probably tied for my favorite Windclan cat besides Crowfeather. We'll be going into Outcast next. It'll be slightly different again, promise.


End file.
